Many electronic systems include semiconductor memory modules, such as solid state drives (SSDs), dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), and small outline-DIMMs, all of which utilize memory cells to store data as an electrical charge or voltage. Improvements in storage density of these modules have been brought about by increasing the density of the memory cells on each individual memory component using enhanced manufacturing techniques. Additionally, the storage density of these modules has also been increased by including more memory components in each memory device or module using advanced board-level packaging techniques. However, as storage density has increased, so has the overall heat generated from the modules. Such heat generation is particularly problematic in blade server systems, where high-density SSDs and DIMMs are frequently accessed for memory read and write operations. In the absence of efficient heat dissipation mechanisms, this increased heat can ultimately lead to reduced performance or failure of either individual memory cells or the entire module.
To dissipate heat generated by tightly packed memory components, a memory module may make use of heat sinks that are coupled to the semiconductor memory devices or the module. Heat sinks are typically mounted on top of the memory devices or the memory module. Airflow from fans may be routed through or past the heat sinks to help dissipate the heat. However, given the increasingly compact form factor of the memory modules, the combined heat dissipation effects of the heat sinks and the airflow is often insufficient. Thus, cooling systems normally have to be larger and/or operate their fans at higher speeds, which results in noisier, less efficient, and costlier systems that do not sufficiently address the issue of non-uniform heat dissipation throughout each memory module. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a cooling system that addresses the above mentioned problems.